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TED Fellow Negin Farsad weaves comedy and social commentary to cleverly undercut stereotypes of her culture. In this uproarious talk/stand-up hybrid, Farsad speaks on her documentary, The Muslims Are Coming!, narrates her fight with the MTA in New York and offers a detailed breakdown of the different types of haters she’s encountered in her work. “Comedy is one of our best weapons,” she says. “We’ve tried a lot of approaches to social justice, like war and competitive ice dancing — but a lot of things are still kind of awful. I think it’s time we try and tell a really good poop joke.”

With another #GOPDebate tonight we’re unfortunately expecting more Islamophobic rhetoric out the Republican candidates.Discriminating against people by religion isn't just un-American, it's also impossible and stupid! We sent Muslim comedian Negin Farsad out into NYC to prove just that. #WeAreBetterThanThis

From the acclaimed writer, director, and star of the hit documentary The Muslims Are Coming! comes a memoir in essays about growing up Iranian-American in a post-9/11 world and the power of comedy to combat racism. How to Make White People Laugh Negin Farsad is an Iranian-American-Muslim female stand-up comedian who believes she can change the world through jokes. And yes, sometimes that includes fart jokes. In this candid and uproarious book, Farsad shares her personal experiences growing up as the “other” in an American culture that has no time for nuance. In fact, she longed to be black and/or Mexican at various points of her youth, you know, like normal kids. Right? RIGHT?

Writing bluntly and hilariously about the elements of race we are often too politically correct to discuss, Farsad takes a long hard look at the iconography that still shapes our concepts of “black,” “white,” and “Muslim” today—and what it means when white culture defines the culture. Farsad asks the important questions, like: What does it mean to have a hyphenated identity? How can we actually combat racism, stereotyping, and exclusion? Do Iranians get bunions at a higher rate than other ethnic groups? (She’s asking for a friend.) HOW TO MAKE WHITE PEOPLE LAUGH tackles these questions with wit, humor, and incisive intellect. And along the way, you might just learn a thing or two about tetherball, Duck Dynasty, and wine slushies.

And here is what some peeps have to say:

“A hilarious and personal take on the complexities of being non-white in America today. This book makes racial politics a bit easier to swallow.”

— REZA ASLAN, bestselling author of No god but God and Zealot

“Apparently, Negin did not spend her childhood in the Irish countryside. She was never a beat jazz innovator, and her marriage to Douglas Fairbanks was unconsummated. This long overdue book not only ‘sets the record straight’ but also improves the whole structure of society. I thank Ms. Farsad for that. You should do the same.”

— JANEANE GAROFALO, comedian

“Negin Farsad whips out some smart racial politics . . . with a side of fart jokes and the result is a hilarious and pungent book.”

— AASIF MANDVI, Daily Show correspondent, actor, and author of No Man’s Land

“This book is more than funny—it’s on David Sedaris–level first-class perfect fucking hilarious funny. I laughed so hard, I made a spectacle of myself.”

Folks!
In a world of ridiculous-things-happen, I was named a TED Fellow! So I’ll be giving a little TED talk on the stuff I do on social justice comedy (that genre of comedy that I’ve pretended exists for the entirety of my career). If you’re going to the TED conference, hit me up! We’ll have a drink and a gossip. Till then, you’re delightful.

Making her parents’ plea for immigration all the easier, Negin Farsad was born in the United States, growing up in the desert of Southern California. She obtained a bachelor’s degree in theater arts and government from Cornell University. Her dual interest in the arts and politics continued when she moved to New York City, studying for a master’s degree in race relations at Columbia University by day but writing and performing comedy by night. She followed that degree with a second master’s from Columbia at the School of International & Public Affairs.

Farsad was recently named one of the 50 Funniest Women by the Hufﬁngton Post and a 2013 TED Fellow. She has been an active comedian and producer for over ten years, earning a nomination for the Emerging Comics of New York Awards and her own off-Broadway run for the comedy show The Dirty Immigrant Collective. Her solo show, Bootleg Islam, which she wrote and performed, has appeared in the D.C., Dallas, and Chicago Comedy Festivals, among others.

Queen Rania of Jordan commissioned a video from Farsad as part of a web series to combat Middle Eastern stereotypes; the series later won the ﬁrst-ever YouTube Visionary Award. Farsad recently won the Lifetime Women Filmmaker Award for her short ﬁlm Hot Bread Kitchen. Her new ﬁlm, The Muslims are Coming! opened in September. And those graduate degrees . . . well, they now collect dust . . .

$91 Billion in bonuses for bailed out banks that made 10 Million homeless? 70,000 people signed a letter calling BS, and the intrepid Negin Farsad went to deliver it in person – see what happened next.

As 2013 inexorably rolls into 2014, social justice comedian and filmmaker Negin Farsad has a few choice words for the outgoing 365 days…

You started 2013 thinking it was gonna be a real hoot. There was an inauguration for a president, a bunch of balls, Beyoncé sang, spirits were high!

2013 had its moments! You saw the royal baby, the Kimye baby, the brilliant death of Walter White. You got a colorful iPhone, you started Instagramming your favorite cappuccinos, you actually used all the Pilates classes you got in that one Groupon. You gave up snark for smarm, you tried kale for the first time, and you finally replaced your desk chair with an exercise ball! You were doing GOOD.

But things got murky with ol’ 2013. Take Miley Cyrus, she was suddenly full of haircuts, tongue gestures and twerking – or was it tweeking? Or was it butt-clapping? You resolved to keep better track of popular dance moves. But how could you? You hadn’t logged onto Twitter in like a week! You may as well be dead. So you start furiously tweeting pithy one-liners about Carlos Danger, about crack smoking mayors, about Paula Deen hating black people, about fictional fat Santa’s race.

You were super in love with Obama until his website didn’t work immediately and then you were super mad at Obama. Your 3D printer keeps jamming, which is probably Obama’s fault too. You ended up with health insurance but you were still inexplicably mad at the Prez.

You get excited because there might be a House vote on the immigration bill. No wait, there isn’t. No wait, there is. No wait… You look at your toilet, you realized that by carting off your family’s pooh throughout the year it has done more than all of Congress.

You try to figure out the rules on being gay – you can marry in some states (woo hoo!); not in others (boo!); you’re welcomed as Olympic athletes in some countries (woo hoo!); shunned in others (boo!); beloved by the pope (woo hoo!); scorned by people who sell duck calls (boo!). The rules are too complicated so you ditch that and play Minecraft.

And pow! There’s a government shutdown, bitches! You realize that little joke you made about Congress and your toilet is actually true! You also realize that apparently the US government ain’t no match for the minority wing of an already unpopular political party that’s obsessed with tea and three cornered hats. Hell no it isn’t!

You learn that all your carefully crafted text messages, voicemails and cell phone calls were being saved, archived, tapped, reread, reviewed, and re-enjoyed all by the country’s very own National Security Agency. You decide not to think about civil liberties or privacy or like “law” or whatever, and focus your attention on Edward Snowden, the dude with the laptops. Did you know he had a stripper girlfriend? Now there’s something to post on Facebook!

Oh yes, Facebook’s stock was down and then up again and… does it even matter? Because once you log on you’re reminded that all of your friends have BETTER LIVES THAN YOU. They’re au courant on Walking Dead episodes and have interesting thoughts on the morality of Snapchat. They post multitudinous photos of the kind of joy you couldn’t possibly ever achieve because you’re single with no kids or because you have too many children or because you hate your husband or because you’re divorced and plan on hating all future women… Aw man! 2013 has you feeling like garbage.

But forget 2013, it just soiled itself. Its like the last one left at the party, it won’t get the hint. The hosts are already clearing out the empty bottles. Its time for it to go! 2013 is goosed, it’s cooked, its burnt on one side, it will never taste good in these buns, gah!

But here comes 2014 and 2014 is the year you’re going to remember to vote, to jog, to care, to be fair. You’re gonna clean the gutters and stand on the side of justice and you’re not gonna let Ted Cruz or the NSA or duck hunters keep you down. You’re gonna get all inspire-y like Malala, you’re gonna get in the trenches like Madiba. This is your year to throw on your Google Glass, punch the boogeyman in the dick, and tell all them schmos to tread lightly ’cause 2014 is about to Turn. This. All. Around.

Well, I gotta say, Its totally lovely that the Huffington Post included me in their list of Top 53 Female Comedians. They forgot a bunch of delightful and hilarious be-titted colleagues like Becky Donohue, Katie Halper, Amy Albert, Julie Goldman, Charlyne Yi etc etc. But even though the list is incomplete, I still gotta brag about it. WHAT? You would do that same!

I wracked my brain thinking of all the toothbrush commercials I’ve seen in the past and even though I’m IN this toothbrush commercial and even though there’s no way I could possibly be impartial, I have decided that this is, objectively, the funniest toothbrush commercial I’ve ever seen.

I’m in Austin, TX for the South by Southwest Film, Music & Interactive Festival! I’m actually the IFC network’s on-camera correspondent for all things information-digital-cloud-space. I’ll be jamming the IFC airwaves with my face starting March 13th (or possibly 14th) and if you’ve got one of those picture boxes, you should set your dvr’s to watch me report on stuff at your very own convenience. Also, I’ve got some standup on Saturday March 13 at 3:30pm and Thursday March 18 at 9:30. These things are all duly listed on the fancy show’s page. I’ll also be hosting a “talk” at the IFC studios on Sunday at 3pm. It will basically be a bunch of comedians talking about how they use Twitter.

If you or someone you love or vaguely know is at SXSW, come by and say hello! In keeping with the fine standards of entertainment journalism, and in preparation for my IFC debut, I’ll be doing shots of BBQ sauce.

Folks! I’ve been threatening to post my reel online and now that threat is an alarming and totally scary reality. So scary, it will make you hire me next time you need a director/writer/producer, or just director, or just writer, or any combination therein. Ehem, anyways, check it, enjoy it, be duly impressed by it. (Or at least I hope so, its supposed to be my main bragging item.)

At www.FixCNBC.com, over 20,000 people signed a letter asking CNBC to hold Wall Street accountable. The Progressive Change Campaign Committee delivered that letter to CNBC’s corporate headquarters. Watch the video here. The letter continues to grow… sign it at www.FixCNBC.com

Iranian-American comedian, Negin Farsad, went to Columbia University to see what all the fuss was about when Iranian Prez Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came to speak. This video is a part of the Dirty Immigrant Collective off-Broadway show at the Culture Project in New York City.